Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 77160 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77160 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
When his gaze cut up to mine, it was shock and fury fighting for dominance in his eyes.
“What the fuck is that?”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Milo
My spit tasted like battery acid. It burned to swallow.
Because what the fuck?
There was no way that kind of bruise came from anything other than being grabbed. Hard. Really fucking hard. The band was almost black, for fuck’s sake.
Roe’s eyes widened.
Her shoulders stiffened.
Something a little wary crossed her face.
Because, clearly, someone had been violent with her recently. The last thing she needed was my anger.
I had to rein it in.
“Baby,” I said, my voice as soft as I could make it with how sharp my emotions felt right then, “what the hell happened?”
“Remo didn’t tell you?”
“Remo?” I snarled. “Did Remo do this?”
I didn’t want to believe it, but I didn’t know the man that well yet.
“No! No, Remo saved me,” she said, her hand going up.
“I’m trying not to spiral here,” I told her, my voice as calm as I could manage. “What happened? Why did Remo need to save you?”
Why didn’t you call me?
“I was leaving the hotel last night. And I guess Frank was hanging around. He saw me. And he freaked out. He grabbed me and started ranting and raving about what a whore I was, how I was screwing the customers for cash, and that I was going to… give him what he wanted. Whether I wanted it or not.”
“What?” The sound was a growl. My jaw was too tight for the word to escape properly.
She sucked in a deep breath. “It was really bad,” she admitted, her voice small. “But then Remo came stumbling over acting drunk. He kind of distracted Frank and then, well, stabbed him in the neck with a needle.”
“What?”
What the fuck was going on?
And, more importantly, why had no one informed me?
“Frank went down hard, and Remo got me out of there. He had me call the police to report it.”
“I’m gonna fucking kill Remo,” I snapped.
If this happened last night, he had more than enough time to get to me and tell me.
“He was… nice. And he has guards watching me from a distance now.”
Oh, did he now?
Called up the whole network to set up shifts but didn’t think to tell me what was going on?
Christ.
I needed to calm down.
In Remo’s head, Roe was the Family’s asset. She wasn’t mine. Even though I’d been the one making contact from the beginning.
“Okay,” I said, trying to think through the soup in my mind. “Why would Remo want you to call the cops?”
“He wanted me to have a… story. So when I went back to work today—”
Why the fuck was she back at work?
What was Remo thinking?
Seeming to sense my cyclone thoughts, Roe offered me an understanding look. “I don’t know what drugs Remo used, but Frank doesn’t remember any of it. So, we… I had to rewrite it. Frank was… confused and shocked. He genuinely thinks he would never put his hands on me.”
Well, that was bullshit.
He was a predator, plain and simple. And one day, he would get too angry or too horny to keep his hands off her.
I wanted her out.
I wanted this danger behind her.
And I was going to have words with Remo about it.
“Are you okay?” I asked, reaching for her arm, my hand landing beneath the bruise. My thumb moved out over the marks. The barely-there touch had her flinching.
“I feel a little better after work, actually.”
“How so?”
“It felt good to get the upper hand on Frank. Right now, he thinks he acted like a monster.”
“He did.”
“Right, but he doesn’t remember the trigger. So he just thinks he hurt me for no reason. And he seems to feel bad about that. It lets me get closer without—”
“I don’t want you closer. I don’t want you near him at all.”
Roe’s head cocked to the side at that, and I couldn’t decide if she looked more charmed or annoyed.
“On the one hand, I like that you’re protective of women. On the other, I was the one attacked. And I want to be part of making him pay for it.”
“Okay. Let’s… let’s not talk about that right now.”
I was too pissed off to do it rationally. And she had clearly dug her heels in already, since she had plenty of time to think shit through. While I was still trying to sort through my thoughts.
“I’m okay with that,” she agreed. “I’m kind of sick of thinking about it.”
“What do you need? A bath? Massage? A drink? Food?”
“Yes?” she said, giving me a sweet little smile.
“In that case, why don’t you go ahead and work on the bath? I’ll order up. Think they only do beer and wine this time of night, though.”
“Wine is good. Lots of wine,” she added.
“There are fresh towels and a robe.”
She seemed relieved for a little relaxation.